April 28, 2010 Italy

Next stop Siena...















Beautiful doorways of my favorite fairytale town of Chivita!
There is nothing modern here, no grocery stores, no cars, just cobblestone roads...but there is a whole lots of charm and beauty. It is an artist's dream come true!

Our room for the night at the only place to stay in Chivita, Franco's B&B.





Perched on a pinnacle in a grand canyon, you walk on a foot bridge, across to the sleepy little hill town. Chivita is 100's of years old, and seems to be stuck in the Middle ages, with only a handful of residents.

Next day, a bus ride to Chivita, a magical tiny hill town!

We flew into Rome, then traveled to Orvieto by train, where we spent one night.

Watching Grandkids in Colorado

We have had a busy few months. In April, I went to Colorado to watch 2 of our grand children, Grant & Leah, while Kristie & Kevin celebrated their 10th anniversary in Washington DC. So good to be with them for awhile since we live so far away.


A week later, Nephi & I went to Italy for for 2 weeks. It was great fun and oh so beautiful!!

Trying to get caught up!

Just a small sample of the photo shoot we had with Kristie at the "Dream House" at Thanksgiving!




Christmas was spent with Fawn and her family, we had a nice dinner and had fun opening gifts and playing games. All the kids stayed near their homes, which are all far from our home, except Fawn. I was able to go to Cassie's for a few days before the holiday, Nephi had to work, so he was not able to go.

Our Thanksgiving holiday was filled with fun and loud squeals of grand kids having a grand time playing together! So grateful they all got along well. And grateful for a sweet family and that all are healthy.
We were able to get together with the Jensen clan at Pam's house in Highland, UT. It was so nice to see them all!
Sorry that Heather and her family couldn't be with us! And Dusty is probably on a bike trip somewhere.

Great Old Homes / Falls Colors

Some great older home along Main Street in Midway.







We have some great mountains just out our back window. Quite different from Vermont. each with there own beauty. We enjoy living in Midway and it's still has that small town feeling. Ruby has been taking picture and here is some of the latest she has added to here collection.

Cascade Springs / Vorwaller's

The Vorwaller's from Urda, Ut near Tooele and who were missionaries in Sharon, Vt with us, stopped over and we were able to take them to Cascade Springs which is only 10 miles from our home and is also part of the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway. What a beautiful place and so close. We drove up and enjoyed the great fall colors.

We are very grateful to have had the blessing of serving a mission. Thankful to give a small portion of our lives back to the Lord for the many blessings we have received. Our testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith grew as we learned more of his early life and the wonderful spirit that we felt at his birthplace. We have gained eternal friends in many of the people of Vermont and the missionaries we served with.
We so love our family and good friends and thank them for their their support and love while we were away!
A few days after arriving home, we were released from our mission by our Stake President Nelson. So we lay our name tags aside for the last time. It feels a bit sad to know we are released from the service of the Lord. Our live has already become more busy and complicated then it was in the mission field. We know we can still be missionaries and serve our fellow man, we hope we can keep this spirit in our lives!